NATURAL HISTORY, 



In the form of half a pyramid, the sides are covered 

 with square scales folded in a right angle, as thick and 

 as sharp as the others. Hence the tail seems to be 

 still more strongly armed than the body, the under pan 

 of which are unprovided with scales. 



The pangolin, or short-tailed manis, is larger than 

 the phatagin, or long-tailed kind ; his fore-feet are co- 

 vered with scales, but the phatagin's feet, and part of 

 his fore-les have none, being only clothed with hair : 

 the pangolin has also larger scales, thicker, more con- 

 vex, and not so close as those of the phatagin, which 

 are armed with three sharp points : the scales of the 

 pangolin, on the contrary > are without points, and uni- 

 formly sharp : the phatagin is hairy upon the belly, 

 and the pangolin haa no hair on that part of the body, 

 but between these scales which cover his back, there 

 are some thick and long hair like the bristles of a hog, 

 which are not found on the back of the phatagin. 



The pangolin is from six to eight feet long, includ- 

 ing his tail, which is very near as long as the body, 

 though it appears shorter when young. The scales 

 are not then so large nor so thick, and are of a pale 

 colour, which is deeper when the animal is adult : they 

 acquire such a hardness, that they resist a musket ball. 

 Like the ant-eaters, the pangolin and the phatagin 

 live chiefly upon ants : they have also a very long 

 tongue, a narrow mouth, and appear to be without 

 teeth : their body and their tail are also very long, and 

 the claws of their feet very near of the same length 

 and the same form, but equal in number : the ant-eat- 

 ers are found in America : the pangolin and the pha- 

 tagin in the East Indies, and in Africa, where the ne- 

 groes call them quogelo, and eat their flesh, which they 

 reckon a wholesome food : they also use their scales for 



